PAN AM's GLOBAL ERA

Photos: The 1960's were barely done when Pan Am again set a standard the rest of the world was forced to follow. Pan American's Boeing B-747 Jumbo Jets brought down the cost of long distance air travel once again. Soon other "wide-body" aircraft followed, as did plenty of cut-throat competition. The expansion in capacity, increasing sophistication among travelers, a burgeoning industry evolving to cater to the demands of millions of new potential customers - all these factors made for a brave new world. So did ever more volatile fuel and commodity prices, labor struggles, and increasingly violent politicization of people in far-away places. Pan Am's world in the last full decade of operation was a far cry from what it had been. The company's powerful history and decades of experience weren't enough. The final revenue flight arrived back in Miami on December 4, 1991.